We waved a tearful goodbye to our trekking crew, which gave me an unpleasant taste of things to come. As they departed, still smiling broadly, to their home villages, it was horrible to think that I might never see them again, but I really don’t want to dwell on that. Our last few days have been spent in Kathmandu soaking up the history and culture of the place. There’s so much more that I want to see. I’ve only scratched the surface of this wonderful country and it’s leaving me with an itchy restlessness to return. And what can I say about Dean and me? Our relationship has grown closer all the time. I feel as if I’ve been with him forever and that Jake is a very distant and bad memory. I’m also trying hard to ignore the fact that our time together is rapidly running out.

I dodge a dozen rickshaw drivers with death wishes and weave between the sparring tut-tuts, clutching the dirt-cheap, jewel-coloured pashminas I’ve haggled over fiercely for Edie and my mother. Last-minute purchases, hurriedly bought as time now seems to have taken against me and is speeding up alarmingly as my call to go home comes ever nearer. I can feel the tendrils of my previous life reaching out to pull me back in—I’ve even started thinking of headlines for My Baby in my sleep, for heaven’s sake! If I were a braver person, I might not go back. It would be simple—one email would do it. I could just extend my stay and back pack around Nepal for another month with my own personal guide. But the lure of commitments is tediously strong and Dean has his own life to continue back in his vibrant village. I can tell he wants to be back among the people there and not a bunch of holidaying Brits. We haven’t discussed what he feels about my impending departure, but there’s been a melancholy air in his demeanour for the past few days. Still, life goes on. There’s work in the fields for him to do and his pupils are pining for him—I expect I’ll be joining them soon. Besides, it would throw my family into complete consternation if I didn’t bowl up home again and I get a pang of familial duty for Edie and, I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I’m missing Mum terribly too.